Maya Srinivasan

Dr Maya Srinivasan grew up in Malaysia and developed a love for animals and nature from a young age. Her passion for marine science began when she did her first dive on a coral reef in Malaysia. She moved to Australia to study Marine Biology and lived in Papua New Guinea for 3 years while doing her PhD research on temporal and spatial patterns of coral reef fish recruitment. Maya found that reef fish reproduce and recruit year-round close to the equator, and that fish species can have very specific habitat and depth preferences when they settle onto a reef. During her PhD, she held the voluntary position of resident researcher at Mahonia Na Dari Research and Conservation, a local NGO, which involved assisting with marine conservation education and community outreach programs. She later served as a member on the Mahonia Na Dari board of directors for over 10 years.

Her current research focuses on coral reef ecology and conservation, particularly the temporal and spatial dynamics of coral reef fish communities, fish-habitat associations, and the effectiveness of marine protected areas. Most recently, she has been leading a monitoring program on inshore island reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The program aims to track the temporal and spatial dynamics of benthic and reef fish communities at 8 inshore island locations on the Great Barrier Reef, from the Turtle Group in the far north to the Keppel Islands in the south. This monitoring has been going on for over 20 years at four of the locations and the results have directly informed marine park and fisheries management.

She is also involved in a long-term monitoring program examining the effectiveness of locally managed marine protected areas in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, and long-term research projects on population connectivity of coral reef fishes in Kimbe Bay and on the Great Barrier Reef. This work has highlighted the effectiveness of reserves for targeted fish species and their importance as sources of fish larvae both for fisheries and conservation.

She has been a lecturer and subject coordinator at JCU for over 20 years and has developed content for online subjects, including Marine Conservation Biology (3^rd year and Masters), Tropical Marine Ecosystems (2^nd year), Marine Animal Behaviour (Masters) and Sampling and Experimental Design (Masters).